By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer

STILLWATER, Okla.(AP) -- Drafted by the New York Yankees in the
second round, Brandon Weeden was a starting pitcher all the way.

After giving up baseball, the strong-armed right-hander earned
perhaps his biggest win as an ace reliever.

Weeden, the third-string quarterback for No. 12 Oklahoma State,
threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the second half to
lead the Cowboys back from an 11-point deficit for a 31-28 win
against Colorado on Thursday night.

"Right when we came out from halftime, I just kind of got a
couple snaps, threw about five or six passes and I was throwing
fire," Weeden said. "I like that. I really do. I think that's
fun."

With starter Zac Robinson injured and backup Alex Cate
ineffective, the Cowboys (9-2, 6-1 Big 12) turned to Weeden to
spark the offense.

His 28-yard touchdown pass to Justin Blackmon with 8:11
remaining proved to be the winner, keeping pressure on No. 3
Texas in the Big 12 championship race. The Longhorns would have
clinched the Big 12 South with an OSU loss.

"We kept on giving him the 1-ball, and he kept throwing the
heater, and finally we made a catch or two - and he made some
plays with his feet, too," offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer
said.

Colorado got out to a 21-10 lead against the one-dimensional
Cowboys before Weeden finally provided a viable passing threat.
He went 10 for 15 and threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Keith
Toston.

Weeden had to give up baseball when he started having problems
with his pitching shoulder and he can't explain why it doesn't
affect him nearly as much when throwing a football.

The lessons the 26-year-old learned during five years in the
minor leagues - never rising higher than Class-A - paid off in
his first big chance on the college football stage.

"Not necessarily my age but I think baseball really helped me
out. Being 18 years old and basically you're just thrown in the
fire," Weeden said. "Move halfway across the country and they
said, `Here's a baseball. Go throw it.' Really and truly.

"Just having to grow up and learn that on the fly on my own, I
think that's helped me not only in football but in life."

The Buffaloes (3-8, 2-5) had one final chance to go for the win
after stuffing OSU on fourth-and-short for the third time in the
game with 3:14 remaining but decided to punt after Tyler Hansen
threw three straight incomplete passes. The Cowboys, the Big
12's top rushing team, ran the final 2:45 off the clock.

Oklahoma State wore black uniforms for the first time since 1994
- a miserable 3-7-1 season - and they didn't seem to be a good
luck charm in the team's first Thursday night home game since
1995.

Cate, who had attempted only five passes in his career, started
in Robinson's place but went 0-for-9 with an interception in the
first half - and it could have been worse. Colorado players had
chances for at least two more picks, but let the ball slip
through their hands.

Weeden came on in relief and connected on his first pass before
throwing three straight incompletions for a three-and-out. When
he completed back-to-back passes on OSU's third drive of the
third quarter, the crowd of 50,080 let out Bronx cheers.

Two plays later, Toston finished that drive with a 45-yard
touchdown run through a huge hole on the right side of the line
to cut the deficit to 21-17.

Colorado had a chance to stretch its lead, but Aric Goodman's
50-yard field goal try caromed off the right upright and coach
Dan Hawkins then opted to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the
29-yard line instead of sending Goodman out to try a 46-yard
kick.

"We all knew as a team that if we got that fourth down, we were
going to score and seal the game. There was no hesitation, we
were going for it," said Hansen, who threw incomplete to Riar
Geer on the play. "I was going to the sideline saying we're
going for it."

Oklahoma State came right back on its next possession to take
the lead on Toston's 47-yard touchdown catch. Toston released
out of the backfield, ran between two blitzing defenders and
caught a short pass from Weeden before racing into the end zone
for the go-ahead score.

Brian Lockridge answered with a 98-yard return for a touchdown
on the ensuing kickoff to put the Buffaloes back ahead with
11:11 remaining, but Weeden responded with two big completions
on third-and-long before finding Blackmon in the end zone as he
scrambled to the right.

"Obviously, he's blessed by his arm or he wouldn't have been in
pro baseball. He delivered some balls and we made some plays,"
Brewer said.

It was only the second win for OSU against Colorado in the
teams' last eight meetings in Stillwater. Both teams ended up
playing switcheroo at quarterback, with Cate getting a 7-0 head
start when Perrish Cox brought back Matt DiLallo's first punt 67
yards for a score.

OSU's defense then sacked Hansen on back-to-back plays to force
a three-and-out, but Toston took a handoff from Cate on the
Cowboys' first offensive snap and fumbled for the first time in
287 carries - a span of more than two years since he'd been
benched for fumble problems in September 2007.

Hansen capitalized with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Scotty
McKnight before leaving briefly with a thumb injury. Cody
Hawkins, the former Buffaloes starter and the coach's son,
replaced him and threw a 5-yard score to Geer to put Colorado up
14-10 at halftime.